


Fallen

by SunSwirls



Series: Triplicate [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abuse, Dubious Ethics, Dubious Morality, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Schizophrenia, Slow To Update, Underfell Asgore Dreemurr, Underfell Flowey (Undertale), Underfell Mettaton (Undertale), Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underfell Toriel (Undertale), Underfell W. D. Gaster, generally follows original universe's canon, in this one at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22163707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunSwirls/pseuds/SunSwirls
Summary: Long ago, a human fell into the monster kingdom. They were taken in by the king and queen, and raised by their son. Their deaths sparked grief and rage among the kingdom, and a second war on humans was declared.The queen disappeared after the declaration, and was forgotten over time in the ruins of the old kingdom. The Underground fell gradually into dark times where violence was encouraged and rules were expected to be followed without question, ensured by the Royal Guard. Humans fell and died in the name of the war their king led; six human Souls were collected. Generations of monsters passed, waiting for the seventh human who never fell.And then, one day, it did.
Series: Triplicate [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1116465
Comments: 9
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

"Steven?"

"Come on! I found some really cool columns up ahead!"

"Okay." The girl struggles onwards. The mountain is steep, covered in brambles, but she doesn't mind. She rarely sees her older brother one on one, and she's happy to spend time with him. 

When she spots the white marble, crumbling and covered in vines, she lights up. "Oh! That's so cool!"

"Yeah." He crouches. "I wonder who, or what, put them here."

"'What?' Wouldn't it be a human?"

"You'd think so, and yet, legend is that this place is cursed, according to the locals. They talk about strange creatures. Weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She steps closer.

"Careful, Brooke. Looks like that's quite a drop."

She glances down into the hole. "Why is this here?"

Steven shrugs, fiddling with his camera. "Not sure. Wonder why there are no safety rails. Are the people around here really that superstitious?"

Brooke squats down beside the hole. She tries to peer in, but it's so deep. It looks like shadows swallow any sunlight that finds its way in. "They really are. You haven't spent any time around the kids my age. When I mentioned the mountain, I got treated to some really weird legends."

He glances up from polishing the lens. "Such as?"

"Why are you so interested in this?"

He grins. "I like a good urban legend."

Brooke rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Anyway, they told me that a bunch of people have gone missing when they tried to explore the mountain. There's something creepy living under there, and it lures kids deep into the caves, and then sucks out their Souls." She wiggles her fingers. "Spooky. So I told them that was obviously dumb, but a kid told me that his mom knew some girls who disappeared when they climbed the mountain."

"His mom probably told him that to scare him away from this place. Can't say I'm surprised. Look at all these pits. If anyone did disappear here, it's because they likely got trapped."  He ruffles her hair with a teasing smile. She squeals and pushes his hand away. "Still, better keep that pocketknife handy. Monsters could come at any minute now! And rip your face off!"

"Steven!"

He tickles her. "Rawr, the tickle monster is going to be the death of you!"

She laughs, squirming away. The dirt is loose, and doing so brings her dangerously close to the edge. For a moment, she can feel herself falling a little bit. It sends a thrill through her, makes her hyper alert. A few pebbles skid off the edge of her shoe, falling deep into the chasm and disappearing into the darkness. She grabs her brother's arm. He's stopped tickling her. "We're too close to the edge."

"Right." He steps back. "Glad I caught you. You okay?"

She nods. "I'm fine. We should probably get going."

"Nah, don't be like that. I want to look at these columns a little more first. Come on."

She glances into the darkness. "All right."

As she's following her brother, however, a sudden rush of vertigo overtakes her. She stumbles, dizzy. "Steven--"

The dirt and pebbles slip under her shoes, harder this time. She tries to recover, but it's too late. Gravity takes over, making her stumble and fall into the pit. A startled scream rips from her mouth, brought on by her helplessness.

And then she hits something. Waves of sparks travel through her body. Her heart feels as though it's been shocked. The entire sensation numbs her, makes her mind shut. Even as she's falling, darkness steals her mind away, and she is unconscious.

As the human hits the Barrier, magical shockwaves travel through the Underground. It sweeps through the Ruins, through Snowdin, through the deepest caves of waterfall, the highest plateaus of Hotland. It hits the palace, echoing in the ears of the king. And it hits a tiny cave in Snowdin, a sleeping flower weary with his life.

Seven. Seven humans. The final Soul has arrived at last.

* * *

The king’s head jerks up, his eyes flying open. 

He felt that. He knows that feeling. He knows what it means.

He whirls around and heads into his house, then into his kitchen, flicking a switch. The light turns on. He starts pacing. The feeling he just experienced is one that's extremely unique, one that only happens on one occasion and hasn't happened in a long time. He knows what it means. He knows what it means for the kingdom. 

There's a human here, and that means, finally, revenge.

* * *

The small skeleton pauses in his training. The bones hovering around him disappear before they reach the target. "brother, did you sense that?”

The larger one has stopped, too. "YES." The bone he was holding dissipates along with the others around him. "THE LAST HUMAN. THIS COULD BE IT, BROTHER." 

"finally." He flips up his hood, smiling a little. He seems to always be smiling, but this is more sincere. His left eye gleams red. "hopefully the anomaly doesn't mess with it.”

"IT BETTER NOT. THIS HUMAN IS  _ OURS _ ." 

The smaller skeleton nods once, and with a word from the taller one, they move to start searching.

The hunt for the human has begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally got around to posting this! man i hate how long it took me  
> anyway, welcome to the first official part of triplicate! it's uh. gonna be a long ride.


	2. Chapter 1

Flowey moves from the humidity and marshes of Waterfall to the cold and snow of Snowdin, wondering yet again why he's trying to look for the human. He knows the answer - finding them means another day for him to try and figure out what the Underground’s happy ending is that doesn't end in bloodshed - but it doesn't help the feeling much. It just feels like another task for him to do.

Speaking of tasks for him to do, currently he needs to be careful and focus. Snowdin houses the majority of the Royal Guard, and he isn't keen on running into Papyrus or the rest of the Snowdin unit, even if it won't be hard for him to escape. And after all, if push comes to shove, he can always just reset. 

He passes some of the traps the Guard has set. He doesn't really want to reset. Not again, at least. He wants to make this timeline work. It's the best he's gotten so far - he's been in the shadows a lot more, which is one thing he's found he kind of likes. The people he can never avoid getting the attention of, however, are the skeleton brothers. He still is trying to figure out their mystery; no matter how hard he tried, in every timeline, they would never let him get close enough to figure them out. They seem to practically hate him, too, and in this timeline he hasn't even done that much. Granted, he isn't exactly thrilled about them either, but they don't remember like he does. Maybe he'll have to accept that he won't ever figure them out, no matter how much it bugs him.

He pops up on the edge of the town, in an area where he can see but not be seen. With any semblance of luck - like he has any - the Guard will just be focusing on patrolling and not finding the human. To his credit, he's partly right. The canines seem to be patrolling and generally watching the area, though he can't see the Dogi. Curfew will be enforced soon, so he supposes they're off doing something related to that. 

Which leads to his next question and worry - where are the skeleton brothers? He can't see them in the town, nor are they near him. The Dogi can be explained by the estimate of having the night shift, but that's one thing the brothers never do. Well, almost never. Maybe once a month, but if he remembers correctly, the last time they had the night shift was just a week ago. 

It's fine. He's fine. They're probably just training somewhere.

He watches the patterns, silent and out of sight as Lesser Dog, Greater Dog, and Doggo start to corral people into their homes, the Dogi joining them after a moment. Curfew is starting, then. That means everyone will be out and securing everything for the next few minutes. He's best where he is.

Or, well, he is until one of the Dogi spot his cheerful gold out of the corner of their - her? He thinks it's Dogaressa, but he can never be quite sure - eye and starts moving to investigate, meaning he has to abandon his spot for another. This time, he's by the river, hiding by a few trees and aided by the ever falling thick snow. It's harder to see everything from here, but he's better safe than sorry. 

He watches as all five dogs pass in a sequence he memorized long ago. Once, twice, a third time. He's usually safe by now, but there's no point in trying to rush. The human is likely still in the Ruins, and probably still unconscious. No one will find them for a while, so he takes the moment to reflect. 

He wants this human to live. He knows the other six who fell all died before his time, and the king needs seven souls to break the Barrier. He knows what that will mean, and he doesn't want that to happen. He never did. 

But in order for the human to get out, they'll need a Soul from a boss monster. And that boss monster is likely going to be the king. He doesn't want that to happen either.

He exhales quietly. He supposes, should push come to shove, he'll choose the human. They're an innocent in the useless war. 

He focuses on the main pathways of the town. The three dogs have probably gone home, but there's still no sign of the brothers. He's not sure if that's good or bad at this point, but he'd probably say it's bad. There's a high chance of running into them, especially since this is all uncharted territory. 

He starts to move carefully around the town, keeping an eye out for the Dogi and the skeletons. It's dangerous to be out right now; the Guard have practically no restraint when curfew is in effect. It's not as dangerous for him, of course, but he'd still like to avoid another death. He's experienced too many of those as it is, and he can say with certainty that dying via being torn apart by overzealous dogs isn't fun, and death by the skeletons…

Well, they've caused him more than their fair share of resets, many of which couldn't have come soon enough.

He nearly makes a fatal mistake while distracted: Dogaressa caught sight of him again. He quickly pops to the other side of the path, hearing her call, “Dogamy! Dogamy! I saw it again!”

Flowey burrows under a small pile of snow, using a few vines to move the snow from his eyes so he can see. Dogamy hurries over to - are they married at this point? He thinks so, but sometimes it's hard to remember - his wife. “What? What is it?”

Dogaressa is sniffing where Flowey was, and the flower can see the irritation in both of them. “That thing from earlier! I saw it!”

Dogamy sniffs the spot too, trying to track where Flowey came from and went. Neither have any luck, and Dogamy growls. “I can't smell it.”

“Then your nose is blind,” Dogaressa retorts. “I can smell it!”

She gets another growl in response. “I'm going back to patrolling.”

She growls back. “Dimwit,” she mutters under her breath, still trying to pinpoint Flowey.

Hmm. Definitely married, then.

Flowey watches for a moment, careful to stay hidden and focused this time. He watches as she decides to give up trying to track him and returns to her patrol route that he knows they'll give up later for a game of fetch with stakes or something. He waits an additional ten seconds, then continues moving again, shaking off the extra snow.

As he reaches the other end of the town, he's able to relax a bit. He still hasn't seen the skeletons, but maybe he just missed them. It's definitely possible; for all his skills, he can still miss things. Even so, he stays on alert. He doesn't want to make a fatal mistake. 

The traps on the way to the forest are harder than the ones on the Waterfall side of the town, but Flowey already knows them well, so he's able to evade them with relative ease. It helps that they aren't in the thickest parts of the forest and mostly are just laid on the paths, though part of that is due to the fact that he himself disabled a lot of the ones among the trees. Repeatedly.

On second thought, maybe it's not all that strange that Papyrus and Sans hate him so much. 

He reaches the door to the Ruins without incident. It's quiet here, even the snowflakes barely making a sound. He's the only thing that really makes noise as he moves through the snow. The rustle of his petals, the creak of his cold stem, the heavy breathing…

Wait. That's not him.

He comes to a full stop, looking around quickly for immediate threats. No skeletons. No dogs. No Guard wannabes. Just him and the trees.

Okay. No immediate threats, but everyone in the kingdom is dangerous to some degree. If someone is here, which he's sure there is, he could be in serious danger. 

Well, not really, but again. He doesn't want to reset if he doesn't have to.

He looks around again, slower this time. Trees. Fallen branches. Snow. But there's something that doesn't quite fit with all those just in front of him, about halfway to the door from the gate. It's brown, like the branches of trees, but it doesn't have the same shape. Reflex warning him that it could be a trap, he slowly advances toward the anomaly. 

Whoever it is isn't moving. Generally a bad sign in health, especially in the cold of Snowdin, but a good one in avoiding danger. He can make out a few details as he gets closer: they've dug themself a hole, they're brown, and they've got ears like triangles. That leaves very few candidates in his mind, and all of them are still dangerous.

He exhales. Screw it. If he has to reset, fine, but everyone knows they're not to be out after curfew, and that fact alone says that this could be a rebel. He could help them. 

He moves to the edge of the hole and peeks in. To his surprise, it's the one candidate he overlooked entirely. She never breaks any rules; hell, she's so scared most of the time, he barely sees her without any of her siblings. She has her eyes closed right now. For a while, he just waits.

“Howdy,” he finally says, hating to break the silence and scare the skittish cat monster, but he'll admit that he isn't the most patient person.

As expected, she jumps and scrambles backwards, blue eyes wide and frozen on him. He just gives her his most cheerful smile. “You're Katherine, right?” he asks, trying to soothe her fear. “Whatcha doing out here?”

She still doesn't respond. He can easily see she's still afraid, so he studies her. He's never really interacted with her; she caught his interest once or twice, but no more than anyone else has, really.

Still. This is something that hasn't ever happened. He may as well see where this leads. 

Katherine's fur is brown, her eyes are blue, and she doesn't seem to be fully equipped for the cold. He squints a bit, trying to see if he's imagining the slightly darker color in the fur around her mouth. “Are… You hurt?” he asks after a moment.

It's like he's flipped a switch. Fear and caution turn to shame and guilt in a split second, and she looks away. He has to admit, he's curious. Even if she isn't a rebel - which, having observed her, she most certainly is _not_ \- she does seem to need help, and who better than him? 

“Here.” He summons a few green seeds and flicks them at her. He doesn't miss how she flinches initially before they make contact and soothe the pain. She blinks a little, then looks at him again. 

He smiles a little. “Better?”

She nods. 

“Great.”

He thinks for a moment that she's going to smile back, but very quickly she looks away again, obviously ashamed.

“Is something wrong?” he asks her. 

No answer. It's getting a little annoying, but he pushes that aside, instead reaching out to touch her shoulder with a vine. “Hey. It's fine. You're safe,” he says. 

She's still wary of him, that much is obvious, but she isn't afraid like earlier, which is good. However, she does jump when he touches her shoulder, looking over in the direction of the town. He isn't sure why for a moment until he hears it: howls. 

Hmm. Maybe he's partly wrong about her not being a rebel.

“Are you hiding from the Guard?” he asks. She immediately shakes her head, but her expression isn't convincing. “Then what _are_ you hiding from?”

She seems to be about to answer, but quickly snaps her mouth shut. _She's got secrets, then,_ he decides. That makes her more interesting, and it makes him want to see how this timeline plays out even more. 

“Follow me,” he says after a moment. “I know a good place to hide.”

He's apparently taken her off guard, but he just smiles and moves through the snow. His closest hideout isn't far, and it will take the Guard some time to get to them. They'll be hidden long by then, and maybe with a little more kindness and some patience, he'll be able to get some answers from Katherine about what's going on with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly wasn’t planning on getting this out so soon, but I’m not entirely complaining. I’m gonna caution you guys not to expect updates super close together; I unfortunately have no control over my motivation.   
> That said, I hoped you enjoyed this first chapter!   
> —  
> Got a question? Ask me on tumblr at starryskieswrites.tumblr.com !


	3. Chapter 2

Brooke groans as she slowly regains consciousness. Her eyes flutter open, squinting a bit against the bright light above her. _Is that the sun…?_ she wonders, more than a little disoriented and groggy. _I must’ve been out for hours. Or, wait. Maybe that’s the moon; it’s not quite bright enough to be the sun._ She tries to sit up, yelping as pain shoots through one arm. The other arm manages to get her up, but when she looks at the first, she can see that it doesn’t quite look right. She feels her stomach churn and quickly looks away. 

_Broken,_ she thinks. That will be fun, especially considering she has no idea where she is. A quick look around reveals that she landed on a patch of dandelions and grass, and she’s clearly in some kind of cave. A part of her wonders if it was man-made, as the walls are smoother than a natural cave’s. She looks up again, wondering how far she fell. 

_Wait a minute. That’s… not the sky._ She squints a bit, trying to discern if what she’s seeing is correct. She closes her eyes, shakes her head, then looks up once again. Sure enough, the ceiling of stalactites and some mysterious, glowing source is still there.

 _Where_ am _I?_

She looks around again, then carefully stands, trying not to jostle her broken arm. She whimpers, not fully successful in her attempt, but grits her teeth to try and get through it. She doesn’t have a way to fix or attempt to fix her arm. She didn’t bring a bag with her, and even if she had, she wouldn’t have brought anything that would help. For now, she’ll just have to be careful to not move it.

After looking around one more time, she sees a short little passage that looks like it leads somewhere else. _Better than nothing,_ she thinks, heading for it. 

There’s a little column archway on the side at the end, leading into another, seemingly bigger cavern that has another strange light source and another patch of grass. There has to be some kind of hole in the roof of these caves, then; she knows grass doesn’t grow without sunlight. Not most grass, anyway. Other than that, the cavern isn’t much different, so she continues onward through another archway that leads into a much, much bigger cavern that’s a stark contrast to the earth-toned caves behind her. For one, the walls of this cavern are made of brick, confirming her earlier thought about these caves being man made. For another, everything is purple, the bricks included. That’s strange to her, as the bricks themselves seem to be purple, and she can’t remember seeing any purple bricks at home, unless they were painted. _Did I fall into Wonderland?_ she thinks. _None of this seems right._

This cavern has two sets of stairs that lead to a platform, and there’s a carpet of dead leaves between them. She glances behind her, then exhales. Those stairs and that platform seem to be her only way forward, and thus her likely only way out, so she heads for them. There has to be _some_ way out of here, after all, no matter how strange the place is. She’s just a little afraid because she has no idea what could be lurking here.

Climbing the stairs and moving through that doorway leads her to a much smaller chamber. This one has something that looks like pressure plates on the ground, and a lever on the wall. She studies them uncertainly, looking around for traps. _Maybe they’re magic…_

The thought isn’t that comforting. She may be fairly skilled - at least in her class - in bloodstone circle magic, but she doesn’t see any trace of it here, even though she knows what to look for. 

After debating for a while with herself about this strange puzzle, she exhales and tentatively steps on the one closest to her, farthest from the switch. Nothing happens, which is definitely good. She tries another. Still nothing. Frowning, she steps on all six. Nothing. She tries different combinations, hoping she’ll be able to figure it out. There’s only so many patterns it could use, right?

In her twentieth attempt at guessing the right combination, she jumps as the door opens, subsequently yelping as she jostles her broken arm, stumbles from not quite landing right, and falls on her butt, bringing another whimper for another flash of pain. Something comes through the door and stops, but it takes her a moment to clear the fuzz from her vision and focus through the pain. 

“Oh. H… Hello there,” whoever it is says.

Brooke manages to focus, looking up. She almost wishes she hadn’t, as in front of her stands some kind of goat woman. That’s not what makes her nervous about the woman, though. What makes her nervous is the fact she seems to have stopped taking care of herself a long, long time ago. Some of her fur is matted, she looks like she hasn’t slept - or at least not properly - in weeks, and the robe she wears is stained and has holes here and there.

_I’m definitely not home._

“Are you alright?”

Brooke can’t find it in her to answer with anything other than a squeaky “No.”

“Let me help you.” The goat woman kneels next to her and puts a furry hand on her broken arm, sending another jolt of blazing white pain through her. Brooke tries to pull away, feeling a little dizzy, but the woman’s grip is surprisingly strong for how unkempt she looks. 

A green glow cuts through the black spots in her vision, and the pain fades. It takes her a moment to reorient herself, and she then looks at her arm, no longer broken. “Um… Thank you,” she says, uncertain.

“You are welcome.” The woman smiles, though Brooke can’t say she likes how it looks. It’s almost like she’s forgotten how to smile properly. “I am Toriel. You are a human, correct?”

Brooke nods. “Yes. Um… Where am I?”

“The Ruins.”

“Okay…?” That doesn’t really answer her question; she already knew she was at some kind of ruins. Or, well, she was before she fell. 

“Come. It is late. You will stay with me.” Toriel gives her another not-quite-right smile.

Still, she _did_ heal her, and she likely knows how to get out of here. Plus, some sleep sounds great. “Alright,” she agrees, getting up.

Toriel does as well, holding out a hand. “There are many puzzles in this place. I will guide you through them. Just take my hand.”

Brooke does so, following the goat through the doorway she was just trying to get through. 

Toriel leads her through a number of rooms and past several puzzles, one of which includes a bridge made of retracting spikes. She isn’t sure how to feel about that; some of these look like they’re supposed to kill someone. Toriel seems to know her way around them, though, and she doesn’t seem too perturbed about it, so Brooke figures she’s probably safe for the moment. For as strange as this goat lady seems to be, she doesn’t seem to want to kill her. 

The trip through the purple place is relatively uneventful. Brooke sees several switches, some ground that doesn’t quite look stable, and crumbling pillars here and there. Every so often, she thinks she sees other creatures staring at her, but they keep far away, almost like they’re scared. _Are they scared of me?_ she wonders. _Or are they scared of Toriel?_

As a test, she looks directly at one of the small creatures. It does scuttle away, but not before blinking at her once or twice. _Maybe I’m not that safe,_ she amends, resolving to keep her guard up as she eyes the woman leading her.

Eventually, Toriel and Brooke reach a house of some kind with a dead tree in front. The tree seems the most normal to her, with its bark as black as asphalt. It’s leaves are scattered around, making the occasional step crunch. The place is otherwise not unlike the rest of the strangely purple caves, sans the house, which Toriel pauses in front of. “Here we are,” she says. “I will show you to your room. Come along.”

She enters the house, Brooke’s hand still in hers, giving the girl few options other than to follow. The house itself is rather nice, she notes, in warm colors. There seems to be a pretty thick layer of dust on everything, though, making her wonder when the last time Toriel cleaned was. Said woman doesn’t seem to notice or mind it, just tugging Brooke along to the hall and stopping in front of a door. “This is your room,” she says. “If… If you need anything, let me know. I want you to be comfortable here.” She smiles again, and Brooke smiles back, a bit uncomfortable. She has no idea who this lady is, and she really just wants to go home. 

Still, Toriel is offering her someplace to sleep, and she could definitely use that, so she goes inside the room. 

“Thank you,” she tells Toriel. The woman’s smile grows into something a little less unpleasant, but she seems to forget to respond as she simply turns and walks away.

Brooke closes the door, assessing the room she’s been given. It’s fairly small, seemingly built for a kid about her age. Maybe a little younger, she amends as she sees a toy chest at the foot of the bed. 

Speaking of which, the bed seems to be calling to her. Despite the dust still prevalent in this room, the bed looks rather comfortable, and she’s pretty tired even assuming she was out for a couple hours. She moves to it, grabbing the quilt on top and shaking it out, releasing a cloud of dust that sends her into a coughing fit. The same happens when she fluffs the pillow. _I wonder when this was last used…?_ The thought is there and gone as she tests the very comfortable bed.

 _I can ask about leaving later,_ she thinks. _After all, I’m sure she’ll understand…_

A few minutes, and the girl is sound asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was honestly kind of dreading this chapter but I don't have to anymore! Now it's a different one! Yay....
> 
> \--
> 
> Got a question? Ask me over on tumblr! https://starryskieswrites.tumblr.com/


	4. Chapter 3

The trip to Flowey’s closest hideout is thankfully uneventful, though he isn't thrilled with how close the Guard is sounding. Neither is Katherine, by the look of it, but it’s fine. They're safe now. 

“Here we are,” he says cheerfully. “It's not much, but it works.”

He nearly starts settling in, but in a split second remembers that he needs to cover their tracks. They may be safe where they are, but they might not be if the Guard tracks them here. He knows Dogaressa and Dogamy tend to stick to the town, and they are the ones on duty tonight, but he and Katherine both heard howls from the town. Given the event that had him out and about earlier, unfortunately he has no guarantee they’ll really be safe tonight unless he does cover their tracks. It shouldn’t take long, though.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Flowey tells the small cat. “Feel free to make yourself comfortable.”

She just blinks at him. He supposes he should’ve guessed there would be no response. She hasn’t been the chattiest since he found her. 

“Don’t worry,” he continues. “Just need to look around real quick. I’ll be back before you can say ‘buttercups’!”

She blinks again, then gives a tiny nod. It’s at least recognition that she heard him; he was admittedly wondering if she'd been paying attention at all to anything he's said.

He exits his little sanctuary and follows the tracks they made in the snow for a bit, far enough to be fairly sure that if more of the Snowdin unit are out tonight and that they’re beyond the town’s edge, they won’t be able to track him and Katherine back to his safe spot. Admittedly, his estimation of “far enough” might be farther than he has to go, but he also wants to get a look at the Ruins door while he’s out here. If the human has already made it through the Ruins - unlikely, but possible - he’ll need to leave track them down to take them to his hideaway, at least for the night. A quick reconnaissance of the area around the door says that no, the human has not made it through the Ruins yet, which he has to admit he’s grateful for. It’ll be easier to get through… well, everywhere when it’s just him and the human. 

Satisfied that he has at least some time, he heads back to the hideout, making sure to smooth the snow over the few tracks he leaves, though before he goes back inside, he takes a moment to watch the snow fall. It’s always been interesting to him, since he isn’t really sure how it happens, not to mention it can be pretty fun. As he watches the fluffy flakes fall, he’s glad they’re falling a little harder tonight; it’ll help obscure whatever he might have missed on his way back.

He shakes off a bit of snow as he re-enters his space. Despite his fascination with the snow, Snowdin isn’t exactly his favorite place in the Underground for a myriad of reasons, but it’s necessary for him to be here for now. He can keep an eye out for the human, and he can make sure Katherine gets back to her family without much trouble.

Speaking of Katherine, it doesn’t look like she’s moved since he left. Well, beyond laying down, at least. She could almost be asleep; he’d believe she was if he hadn’t been gone for less than fifteen minutes and her ears weren’t twitching at every little sound. She’s looking at him now, blinking again.

“I’m back,” Flowey says cheerfully, stating the blatantly obvious. “So,” he continues, moving further in so as to get away from the cold that has his stem starting to creak. “Why are you out so late?” 

She just blinks. He waits for a moment, hoping maybe she’ll finally respond beyond simple yes or no answers. She doesn’t, so he tries again. “Let me guess… Chasing snowflakes?”

She shakes her head. 

“Looking for a flower?”

Another head shake.

“Oh, I know! You were playing hide and seek, huh?” he says with a smile.

Nope.

“Hmm. This is a tough game.” Flowey tilts his head slightly, thinking. “Were you… Looking for some twigs?”

Still no.

“Seeing how fast you can run?”

Nada.

“Trying to get fried snow?”

She blinks, bemused by that one. He just winks. “Trade secret.”

Her confusion doesn’t waver. “Don’t worry about it,” he says lightly, adding after a short pause, “You’re sure you weren’t running from the Guard?”

Katherine nods, but again is uncertain. She then quickly looks away, guilty and, he thinks, ashamed. That timing was strange, though. It didn’t seem like a response to what he said, which has his curiosity going again.

Maybe she sees things. She wouldn’t be the first one, nor the only one. Flowey has seen many people get that brand of crazy. It usually ends up getting them being killed. Not always, which he thinks is good - those who see and hear things seem, to him, to be more dangerous to themselves than anyone else - but most times. It shouldn't be a big deal; people are always dying. That's just a fact of life. Even still, the violence isn’t something he particularly likes to think about.

_ Everything’s been fine so far, _ he reminds himself.  _ It may be the best yet. If nothing else, today is new. _

He realizes he was staring off into space and quickly shakes himself. Katherine is looking at him again, looking concerned even with her flattened ears. He just smiles at her. “Got a question?” he asks pointedly. 

It must not be much of a point, since she’s still as silent as the snow.  _ Gee, she’s a tough nut to crack.  _

“It's okay, I don't bite,” he assures her.

Her ears flatten briefly, but she's still silent.  _ Hmm. _

“Well, I don't bite very hard,” he amends, trying to get a laugh or at least a smile. No such luck. She just looks uncertain as ever, though he thinks he might’ve made her a bit uncomfortable as she's now studying the floor.

In the ensuing silence, he studies her for a bit. Some of her fur has gone from brown to a sort of cream color, an effect he wasn’t expecting. He knows the Hopes are mostly all different colors, but he assumed that their fur was one solid color, not two like he’s seeing with Katherine now. It’s mildly interesting - he might look it up later - but that’s not what has most of his attention. What does have most of his attention is the fact that there has to be some reason why she’s not talking. He knows she’s capable of it; he’s seen her talk to her siblings plenty of times and to strangers… Well, less often, but she’d still talk, so there has to be some reason she isn’t now. Flowey feels like the answer is right there, staring him in the face. There’s hints somewhere, he knows it.

He studies what he can see of her face, and is caught in the act when a few moments later, she finally looks up. He offers another smile, this one slightly guilty. “Are you sure you’re okay, Katherine?”

She doesn’t answer. He’s beginning to get used to that.

Flowey continues studying her, trying to figure out how any of the potential dots he’s apparently found match up. The fur around her mouth is a bit darker - he has a split second where he feels like an idiot because he  _ was  _ aware that she is not, in fact, one solid color - but that could be from a number of things. She’s flinched a couple times when he’s asked her something; the first was if she was running from the Guard, even if that wasn’t technically responding to what he asked. Could mean she didn’t think she was, which, if that’s the case, likely means someone went to find the Guard to find her. Which likely means her parents. He isn’t totally surprised by that. Those two are far from gaining a spot on his list of people he likes. 

He tries thinking of other things to finish putting this puzzle together. Maybe he can get something more from her. It hasn’t worked yet, but it has to at some point.

“So, Katherine,” Flowey starts, then frowns. Doesn’t she have some kind of nickname? Katherine is fine, but it gets rather tedious to say so much. This isn't back when the king and queen were kids, after all.  _ May as well ask, _ he thinks.

“Got a nickname?” he asks, tilting his head again.

She blinks - he’s clearly taken her off-guard again - then nods hesitantly.

“Mind telling me?” He gives her another smile, hoping maybe that this time she’ll answer. He’s disappointed as she gives no response, though for a moment she does seem about to tell him. All she does, though, is swallow and look away.

He considers her for a moment. Flowey’s not great at coming up with names on the spot, but he usually sticks with them. “How about Kat?” he suggests, unable to help a smile at his own little pun.

Katherine blinks, hesitates, then nods. 

“Cool. Kat it is,” he says cheerfully. “So, Kat. You like building snowmen, right?”

Kat nods again. “I think I’ve seen a couple. They’re usually just pretty small, aren’t they?” Another nod. “The snow can be fun. I like having snowball fights sometimes. Have you ever been in one?” She nods again, but with an expression that says she didn’t like it much. 

“Didn’t have much fun?” he interprets.

She shakes her head.

“Aw, that’s a shame. They can be really fun if you do it right.”

No response to that. She seems uncertain about everything, him especially. Right now, she’s looking at him as if she isn’t sure if he’s just tricking her. Then again, maybe she just thinks  _ he’s  _ cracked. Most people do, especially when he’s so cheerful. And maybe they’re right! 

He can’t help smiling at his own thoughts. That probably doesn’t help Kat’s uncertainty, but that’s alright. He thinks of things to ask her a bit more, brightening as he says, “Hey, have you ever tried catching snowflakes on your tongue?”

Somehow he must have hit another sore spot, because she once again cringes and looks away.

Flowey’s cheerful smile dims a bit.  _ Geez, just hitting all the wrong notes, huh. _ “Hey, Kat, I didn’t mean to offend you,” he says, trying to not feel annoyed. 

He gets the slightest of ear flicks in response. 

He exhales in a short puff.  _ Sheesh. I thought for sure I was getting somewhere, _ he thinks, watching her.  _ Wish she’d just say  _ something _. _

And then, in a split second, it clicks. She’s usually at least a little chatty, but she won’t say a word to him now. She was hurt when he found her, or seemed like she was. The fur around her mouth is darker than he thinks it should be. If he’s right, then...

_ Gee! And here I thought things couldn’t get much more messed up! _

After a moment, he takes on his best gentle personality. “Kat, I think I know why you’re not talking to me, and why you’re all the way out here this late. You ran away from your house.”

She doesn’t move. 

“You ran because you were hurt, didn’t you?” he probes.

There’s a very long pause in which he continues to hope he’s wrong, then she slowly nods.

Flowey exhales.  _ That’s three to fifty-seven, Flowey vs. the messed up stuff in this kingdom. Sure did a number on everything, huh, King-y? _ “Can I see?”

Kat doesn’t move for a moment, then she lifts her head, eyes squeezed shut, and opens her mouth.

Where her tongue should be, there’s nothing. Well, almost nothing. 

He flicks another green pellet at her, hoping that will help it… Grow back, or something. It doesn’t, but he tried.

After a moment, she closes her mouth again and looks away once more. He can see the shame written in every line of her body; hell, he can practically feel it. If he wanted to, he could probably cut through it with a vine. 

Knowing that, can he, in good conscience, let her go back? Specifically, can he take her back? It doesn’t feel right, but he isn’t exactly the safest person to hang out with either. Doubly so if he can get that human before anyone else does. He can't in good conscience take her back, but he can't in good conscience take her with him, either. She'd probably get killed the first time they run across the skeleton brothers, not to mention all bets for her getting at least a little protection would be off once she was seen with him _ and  _ the human. At least if she’s with her family, someone will protect her.

He exhales. “That seems like it hurt,” he says at last, pasting on a slightly concerned smile. 

One of Kat's ears flick a bit, but that's all.

Flowey watches her for a moment. “You should probably get some rest. My healing magic made it so it would stop bleeding and stuff, so you don't have to worry about that right now.” He offers a gentle smile now. “You're probably tired from running.”

She glances at him, confused. He doesn't think it's from what he said - he was pretty straightforward - but that doesn't clear up what exactly she's confused about. She does settle down, though, seeming to be fine on the floor. That’s the point where he realizes that despite picking the closest hideout, he also picked the one that he tends to use the least, and so there’s not much in the way of comfort.

“Oh! Here,” he says, quickly making a hammock from some vines. “That should be much better than the floor.”

Kat blinks -  _ She sure does that a lot, _ Flowey thinks idly - and points at the hammock, then hesitantly at herself.

“Go ahead,” he encourages. 

She points at him.

“Nah, not much use for me,” he says cheerfully. “I'm a flower, after all!”

She hesitates for a moment more, then climbs into the hammock.

“Comfortable?” he asks once she's settled down. He gets a nod, and he smiles. “Great! I just want to check on something real quick; I'll just be a second.” 

She nods again, and he moves to the entrance of his hideout, poking his head out to check how much snow is falling. It hasn't seemed to have lightened up at all, which is definitely good. He stays there for a moment, scanning to see if he can spot any of the dogs or, stars forbid, the skeleton brothers. Luckily, he sees neither, so he pulls his head back into where it's warmer, using a vine to ensure the entrance is well hidden. 

He stays there for a while, just thinking. Flowey doesn't know what happened for someone to do that to Kat. The Underground’s main rule is kill or be killed, sure, but kids usually are protected to an extent, and while he may not know much about her, he's certain Kat wouldn't do anything nearly crazy enough to overstep that kind of boundary. Hell, when he'd come across her, he didn't even think it  _ could _ be her. She wasn't anywhere near being on his radar. And yet here she is, and there's the evidence of her having pissed off someone. Granted, he thinks with a soft snort, her family isn't the greatest, even by current monster standards. 

Flowey exhales, glancing around his petals toward the small cat. She's settled in the hammock still, watching him with quiet uncertainty. He quickly gives her another smile. She blinks. 

Maybe he should do a little reconnaissance. He can pop over to the Hope residence for a bit, see what he can see, figure out who did it and why. See if any of her siblings are in a rule breaking mood too. There's a couple he definitely wouldn't be surprised about - Noah, for one, seems to have been on a kick of rebellion recently. And with the right cards, he thinks he could convince Kaylee to do anything. She's always trying to keep all her younger siblings out of trouble, and if he mentioned Kat, she might be willing to give him any kind of information. He could -

A howl that's far too close for comfort cuts off that train of thought, and he looks to the entrance of the hideout again. He'd better not. If he went into town with all of the Snowdin unit out tonight, dumb as most of them might be, there's a very high chance of resetting multiple times. 

Flowey hears a soft thump from behind him, and he turns quickly. All he sees is a very nervous Kat sitting beneath the hammock.

“Don't worry. They haven't found this hiding spot yet!” he says, having to force some cheer into that sentence. 

Kat doesn't seem super comforted, but nods anyway. 

He moves away from the entrance at last, settling near the wall. “We’re safe here,” he promises. “I made sure of it. Double and triple checked, in fact!”

That does seem to help soothe her, if only a little.

“No use in worrying about it now,” he continues cheerfully. “Good night! Hope you sleep well.”

She nods again, glancing at the entrance before climbing back into the hammock.

There's a lot to unpack with her, Flowey thinks as he closes his eyes, instinctively closing his petals over his face. Despite his decision to take her back to her house and despite himself, he wants to keep her around. He hasn't had a good mystery in a long time, and most people in the Underground, including her, never caught his interest much. He can think of very few, actually. The skeleton brothers have some mysteries that he still hasn't figured out despite being very, very interested, but he unfortunately seems unlikely to do so anytime soon. Undyne was interesting for a while; he feels a bit bad for how she ended up this time around. He did what he could, but sometimes people just don’t turn out like he thinks they will. The Royal Guard in general aren't very interesting. Scary sometimes, sure, but he's learned most of their tricks, and their lives are relatively boring. Mostly they’re just fun to mess with sometimes; once, he replaced a couple of Doggo’s bones with ones made from snow. Doggo couldn’t figure out why they weren’t burning for a few minutes and why his paws kept getting more wet. Flowey thought that was pretty funny.

And then there's Alphys. He doesn't like trying to mess with her much.  _ Sorry, Mettaton. _

They're going to have to go through her lab if he finds the human, he realizes. She messes with the Hotland security so much, it's almost guaranteed.  _ We’ll be fine, _ he assures himself.  _ I know how to get around her. We’ll be through Hotland in a flash. It’ll be fine. _

He hopes he finds the human. He isn’t sure about anything, but they’re new, so that’s gotta be good. This timeline has been going pretty well, and hopefully that streak keeps up. The human especially should help things. He just has to make sure they get through the Underground alive. Piece of pie.

Flowey’s mind is full of half planned ideas and half dreamed plans of a better future, of ways to survive, of saving that human as he falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. 2020 has been... Something. I've been trying to get up the nerve to post again, partly because I keep seeing people saying that any story with OCs in it are inherently bad and I've been struggling with seeing that all the time to the point I'm finding myself believing it, as well as personal issues.  
> To hell with that though. I've got a story to tell.  
> \-----------  
> Got a question? Ask me on [tumblr](http://starryskieswrites.tumblr.com)!


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